“We want him crucified with Christ,” Brooks Potteiger said of the Texas Senate Democratic nominee, after the podcast host said he prays “that God kills him.”
WASHINGTON — The pastor from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s home church in Tennessee said last week on a podcast that he wants James Talarico to die, referring to the Texas Democratic state representative and Presbyterian seminarian who regularly discusses his Christian faith in his current bid for U.S. Senate.
Brooks Potteiger, an evangelical pastor who has been described as Hegseth’s closest spiritual adviser, repeatedly attacked Talarico on the podcast “Reformation Red Pill.” The show is hosted by Joshua Haymes, a former pastoral intern at Potteiger’s church.
After referring to the Texas Democrat as “a wolf,” a “demon,” and “a snake,” the two talked about what they hope becomes of Talarico.
“First and foremost, we pray that a man like this would be cut to the heart,” Haymes said. He said he puts Talarico in the category of “public enemies,” or those you “are not called to love.”
“This is where you have imprecatory psalms. This is where you pray strongly,” he said. “The psalmist is not shy. God, destroy them. Make them as dung on the ground.”
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“I pray that God kills him,” Haymes continued. “Ultimately, that means killing his heart and raising him up to new life in Christ.”
Potteiger concurred. “Right, right,” he said. “We want him crucified with Christ.”
Haymes repeated that he wants “death and new life” for Talarico. “And if it would not be within God’s will to do so, stop him by any means necessary,” he said.
At one point, the podcast host said Talarico “is the kind of guy you pray imprecatory psalms against. And I mean that actually.” An imprecatory psalm is a biblical song or prayer that invokes God’s judgment, curses or destruction upon enemies.
“Yep,” Potteiger said in response.
You can watch their exchange here, which begins around the 15:53 mark:
Requests for comment were not initially returned by the Defense Department, Talarico’s campaign or Potteiger’s church, Pilgrim Hill Reformed Fellowship.
After this story published, Potteiger said on social media that the story is “false” and gave some “clarifying thoughts” on what he meant by saying he wants Talarico to be crucified.
“Talarico joyfully advocates for the right for babies to be murdered in the womb,” he said. “He also knowingly twists the Scriptures to suggest God supports the murder of babies.”
The pastor said God has given people imprecatory psalms to stop the plans of “evildoers” and that God “even says so in capital terms.”
In the case of Talarico, Potteiger said he prays that “the ‘old man’ would die” in him because he is among “those who celebrate baby murder.”
Talarico later responded on social media, too. He addressed Pottigeiger directly.
“Jesus loves. Christian Nationalism kills,” said the Texas Democrat. “You may pray for my death, Pastor, but I still love you. I love you more than you could ever hate me.”
A Pentagon spokesman accused HuffPost of being “fake news” and “anti-Christian” in a statement provided after this story was published.
“The Fake News Media, and sometimes anti-Christian media, are deliberately twisting the words of Pastor Potteiger in order to attack him and Secretary Hegseth while advancing a partisan narrative,” said Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson.
